Girls record strong start at 3-0

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions will be operating on a thin margin for error over the next few weeks after an injury left the softball team with nine players.

The Lady Lions (11-9-1 overall, 3-0 district) returned from spring break Tuesday, March 21 and defeated Cross Plains 14-7 at Webb Park. Details will be reported next week.

On Friday, March 24, Albany will host Cisco in the first of two meetings among District 8-2A’s only Class 2A teams.

After some schedule changes, the Lady Lions were able to take most of last week off with school being out of session.

“We told the girls we’d have five days to get a little bit of a spring break,” coach Jimmy Fuentes said. “Our kids are iron-man athletes, so it was a much-needed break.”

Still, Fuentes said, team members continued to hone their skills on their own.

“I know they did because several of them asked to get into the facilities,” he said. “It was good to have a break, but also good they had the discipline to get some reps in during the time off.”

The one down note was the loss of first baseman Alli McDaniel, who is expected to miss at least three weeks with an injury. That makes team health the top priority for Fuentes the rest of the way.

“We’ve got to avoid injuries and take care of business so we don’t lose any more kids,” he said. “We’re down to nine, so we have to stay as healthy as we possibly can.”

The upside, Fuentes said, is having several players capable of stepping in at the position.

“The kids are versatile,” he said. “When you lose someone to injury, there’s a lot of shifting around. The more versatile the kids can be, the better it’s going to be for us.”